ChickenPox
by ReganX
Summary: When Lexi FoxMulwray, mischief maker extraordinaire, is sick, it is up to her sister Izzy to fill the mischief void in Sanctuary. Takes place a year after 'The War of the Grandpas'. Complete.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: **As always, 'Mutant X' and it's amazing cast of characters = Not mine. Alexis and Isabelle Fox-Mulwray = Mine.

**Author's Note: **I had hoped to have the beginning of this story posted before now but I've been working on an 'Angel' challenge fic. *makes sad puppy eyes* Forgive me?

**Author's Note II: **Jesse and Emma will be getting married towards the end of this story and, with any luck, the sequel will include the birth of their baby. 

**Author's Note III: **It's funny – I had always intended 'A Little Problem' to be a once off fic, but this story is going to be the fifth sequel. I've really got to think of a name for the series. Any suggestions?

**Author's Note IV: **As always, reviews and any suggestions for activities and/or torture will be most welcome.

**Author's Note V: **This story takes place just over a year after the events of 'The War Of The Grandpas'. Lexi and Izzy are four years old.

Words in / / = Thoughts.

**Prologue.**

" . . . So the ceremony is going to take place in St. Anne's Chapel and we've booked the reception room in a small hotel for the party afterwards. And then it's off to Paris for the honeymoon." Emma sighed blissfully. "Less than three weeks to go."

Shalimar smiled, amused by her friend's obvious enthusiasm. "Are you nervous?"

"Not even slightly." Emma giggled bashfully. "Is that weird?"

"Not at all." Her friend reassured her. "I wasn't. So," She gave Emma a teasing half smile. "How's the list progressing?"

Emma whipped out a list that Shalimar estimated to be at least three feet long. 

"I think that everything's on track." The psionic said seriously. "The wedding dress is already in my room and I made the dressmaker swear on her mother's grave to have you and the twins outfitted well before the day." She paused, a concerned expression on her face. "The girls _are_ going to be good, aren't they? I don't want them to make the minister think he's a duck or something!"

"A duck?" Isabelle Fox-Mulwray poked her head into the room in time to hear her aunt's last sentence. "That's a good idea, Aunt Emma."

Lexi, coming into the room behind her sister, nodded half-heartedly.

"Shal!" Emma turned a pleading look to the mother of the world's two greatest troublemakers.

"Girls," Shalimar said warningly. "Remember what I told you."

Isabelle gave a long-suffering sigh. "I remember, Mommy. No shocking, no climbing on the ceiling, no tripping up the minister," She frowned, counting on her fingers to try to remember all of her mother's instructions. "No growling, no making people think that they're lost, no making them give us stuff, no drinking from the grown-ups' glasses. No making faces at people when they're making speeches. No drawing on Aunt Emma's dress with lipstick when she's not looking."

Emma gasped in horror.

"I think that's everything, Mommy."

"Good." Shalimar smiled at her daughter. "You'd better add no making the minister think that he's a duck." She added as an after thought. She turned to Emma. "Do you think that I left anything out?"

"Good God, I hope not!"

"Don't worry, Aunt Emma." Izzy smiled sweetly. "I'll be good. I promise."

"You'll forgive me if that doesn't fill me with confidence.' Emma said dryly. "What about you, Lexi?"

Shalimar looked down at her older daughter, who had not yet said a word. "Are you going to promise to be good, Lexi?"

"Uh huh." Lexi climbed into her mother's lap. "I feel icky, Mommy."

"Did Uncle Jesse give you candy again?" Shalimar asked suspiciously.

"Uh uh." Lexi shook her head. "Not icky that way."

"What way then, baby?" Shalimar asked gently, concerned. She felt her daughter's forehead. "She does feel kind off warm."

"My head hurts." Lexi whined, feeling very sorry for herself. "And I'm itchy!" She scratched her torso and chest vigorously.

"Okay, sweetie.' Shalimar soothed, lifting her daughter up. "We'll get Grandpa to make it all better."

* * *

_Ten minutes later, the lab._

"One hundred and one point three." Adam announced, reading the thermometer. "Can you lift your t-shirt for me, Lexi?"

The four year old raised the hem of her top a few inches, revealing clusters of small blisters dotted all over her torso. "They're itchy!" The poor child was close to tears.

Adam caught her hand before she could scratch. "Don't scratch, honey, you'll just make it itch worse. I'll put some cream on it in a minute to make it feel better." He looked up at Shalimar and Brennan, who were watching him anxiously. "I'm afraid it's just as I suspected." He smiled, ruffling the little girl's hair. "Our Lexi has chicken pox."

TBC.

I know that it's very short, but it's just the Prologue. Future chapters will be longer and more mischief filled.


	2. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** As always, Mutant X and it's amazing cast of characters = Not Mine. Alexis and Isabelle Fox-Mulwray = Mine.

**Author's Note: **Thanks for the reviews, everyone. They are, as always, greatly appreciated.

**Author's Note II: **Sorry it's taken so long to update – this is the first time I've been working on two stories for posting at once.

Words in / / = Thoughts.

**Chapter 1.**

"She caught them when she went to the park, didn't she?" Without waiting for an answer, Shalimar exhaled in frustration. "First they run into Eckhart, now Lexi gets sick! I don't think that I'll ever want to bring them there again!"

"Relax, Shal." Brennan said soothingly. "Chicken pox is not that big a deal."

Lexi glared up at him, outraged. "Yes it is! It's horrible!" She scratched at her chest for a moment before a series of pointed looks from the three adults stopped her in her tracks. "Can you make it better, Grandpa?" She asked plaintively.

Adam shook his head regretfully. "Sorry, sweetie, I'm that afraid chicken pox is a lot like the common cold – it's a simple disease but no scientist has been able to find a cure for it yet. You're just going to have to wait until it runs its course. In the mean time . . ." He looked up at Shalimar and Brennan. "We're all in for a bit of a rough time."

"But chicken pox isn't serious, is it?" Brennan asked, bewildered. 

"No," Adam conceded. "Not as a rule, but while feline ferals are very rarely sick, when they are, they usually have a miserable time of it." Shalimar nodded in confirmation. "I'm afraid we'll have to keep Izzy away for a while."

Lexi burst into tears at the thought, burying her face in her mother's shoulder.

"You've both had chicken pox, haven't you?" Adam asked suddenly, as the thought occurred to him. "Because if not, I'll have to ask you to stay away as long as Lexi is contagious – the last thing any of us need is an epidemic on our hands and adults usually have a worse time with chicken pox than children do."

"I already had it." Brennan confirmed. "I was eight."

"Me too." Shalimar looked up from soothing her daughter. "I was three."

"Good.' Adam said, relieved. "I've already had it and I'll check with Jesse and Emma." He smiled ruefully. "Emma loves Lexi, but she would never forgive her if she were to catch chicken pox before the wedding."

"Lexi?" A small blonde head poked tentatively into the lab. "Are you okay?"

Lexi, not wanting her sister to see her in her current pitiful condition, kept her face hidden.

Brennan caught his daughter in his arms before she could run to her twin. "No you don't, Izzy lizard." He told her gently. "I'm afraid that you'll have to stay away from Lexi for a little while until she gets better."

"No fair!" The four year old pouted. "If Lexi's sick, I want to be sick too so we can stay together!"

"Trust me, Izzy, you do _not _want to catch chicken pox if you can possibly avoid it." Brennan shifted his daughter to a more comfortable position and tuned to carry her out of the room. "I'll see you later, Lexi."

"Okay." Lexi sniffled tearfully. She tightened her hold on Shalimar's hand. "Don't leave, Mommy." She pleaded.

"It's alright, sweetheart." Shalimar scooped her daughter up in her arms. "I'll stay with you as long as you want me to. Do you have some calamine lotion or something around?"

Adam, to whom this question was addressed, nodded confirmation.

"Alright then." Shalimar rubbed Lexi's back. "Let's see what we can do about the itching at least."

Adam watched smiling, as Shalimar and Brennan left the lab and headed in opposite directions, Shalimar carrying a miserable Lexi and Brennan bearing a righteously indignant Izzy.

Even without trying, the twins always seemed to find a way to make trouble for the adults around them.

* * *

_Fifteen minutes later._

". . . So Adam said that Lexi will be feeling pretty down in the dumps for the next few days." Brennan explained, rather amused by the horrified expressions on his colleagues' faces. "And anyone who hasn't had chicken pox already is to stay away."

"I've had it." Emma said, relieved to know that it was nothing overly serious.

"I haven't." Jesse looked panicked, as if he was half afraid that Lexi was lurking around the corner waiting to sneeze on him or something.

"How long is Lexi going to be sick?" Emma asked, mentally counting the days until the wedding.

"Are you afraid that you'll end up one flowergirl short?" Brennan teased. "I'm glad to know that you're so concerned about my daughter's health!"

"That's not what I mean . . ."

"Relax." Brennan cut her off before she could launch into a flurry of explanations. "Adam said that while Lexi is probably going to be a very unhappy little girl for a few days, she'll be up and about by the end of the week and she should be fine by the wedding. In fact," Brennan grinned. "This is probably going to be harder on _us _than on _Lexi_."

"He's right." Jesse confirmed. "Sick ferals are the worst patients ever – when Shal and I were fourteen, she got the flu and by the end of the week, I was ready to kill either her or myself!" he clapped a hand on Brennan's back. "Good luck, buddy!"

'Thanks." Brennan said dryly, scowling.

"Poor little Lexi." Emma said softly, her voice sympathetic. "Is there anything that Adam can do for her?"

"Not really. All anyone can really do is give her some lotion to stop the itching, but that's it really. To be honest, it's Izzy I feel sorry for – she's not best pleased at having to stay away from Lexi."

"At least with Lexi sick, we might have a few chaos free days around here." Jesse remarked in a jesting tone. "If it was the other way around and Izzy was sick, Lexi would be working overtime to keep us all on our toes! At least Izzy's the quiet twin."

* * *

From her hiding place behind the couch, Izzy could hear every word her father, aunt and uncle were saying.

To say that the little girl was displeased at being kept away from her sister would have been the understatement of the millennium.

Izzy was furious!

She and her sister had been planning a nicely organized spate of pranks – just enough to drive the adults to despair, but without interfering with the wedding preparations – they may have been only four years old but the twins were wise enough to know that wrecking Aunt Emma's meticulously planned wedding would be the last thing that they would ever do – and now all their carefully laid out plans would come to nothing.

It wasn't right!

_/Lexi would **hate **it if we didn't get to play with the grown ups some! / _Izzy thought rebelliously. _/It's not fair for them to make me stay away and Lexi stay in bed! /_

There was no help for it. 

She would simply have to rise to the occasion and play the pranks by herself.

If she couldn't match her sister's level of havoc, then her name was not Isabelle Emily Fox-Mulwray.

TBC.

_Next chapter: Izzy gets to work._


	3. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: **As always, 'Mutant X' and it's amazing cast of characters = Not mine. Alexis and Isabelle Fox-Mulwray = Mine.****

**Author's Note I:** To Feline-Feral – as tempting as it sounds, I don't think that I'll be giving Jesse chicken pox just before his wedding. While it would be funny, I just don't have the heart to be _that_ cruel.

**Author's Note II: **Apologies for the delay in posting this chapter. I've been pretty busy lately.

Words in / / = Thoughts.

**Chapter 2.**

**_Afternoon, the lab._******

"Mommy?" Lexi gave her mother her best 'kitten eyes' expression. "Will you read me a story?"

The little girl had been making a heroic effort to resist the powerful temptation to scratch the rash that, even after the application of half a bottle of calamine lotion, itched fiercely.

Adam had set up a bed in one of his vacant labs and Lexi was to sleep there while she was infectious.

Shalimar smiled indulgently, sitting down on the bed next to her daughter and lifting her into her lap.

"Alright." She stretched her arm across to the bedside locker where Lexi and Izzy's current favorite book of fairytales was occupying pride of place and retrieved the slender paperback volume. "Which one do you want?"

"Cinderella." Lexi popped her thumb into her mouth and snuggled into her mother's lap, ready for a good bedtime story.

"Okay." Shalimar gently brushed a long blond curl away from her daughter's face before opening the book to the appropriate page, taking a deep breath before beginning to read. "Once upon a time there was a beautiful young girl who lived with her wicked stepmother and her two ugly stepsisters . . ."

* * *

**_The rec room, same time._**

"You don't seriously expect me to wear this, do you?" Brennan was incredulous. "I'll be a laughing stock!"

Jesse shook his head behind his fiancée's back, knowing that any criticism of Emma's meticulous wedding plans could very well be fatal.

"You're going to look very handsome, Brennan." Emma told him firmly in her 'you do not want to mess with me' voice.

"The cravat is lilac!" Brennan had a pained expression on his face. 

"And what's wrong with lilac?" Emma asked in a low, dangerous voice.

"Nothing, Emma, nothing at all." Jesse interrupted hastily, hoping to pacify her.

He was rewarded with a smile and a gentle kiss on the lips.

"Wimp!" Brennan muttered under his breath.

Emma looked over at the unhappy molecular, who seemed determined to throw a monkey wrench into her plans for the perfect weapon.

It was time to bring out the big guns.

She laid her hand on his shoulder; giving him the 'little girl lost' look she and Shalimar had taught the twins when they were six months old. "I know that you don't like the colour, Bren, but will you wear it, for me. This day is very important to me." Emma was prepared to squeeze out a few tears if it would make her teammate comply with the dress code she had laid out.

Brennan groaned inwardly. _/It's so unfair, hitting me with the guilt trip like that! / _"I'll wear it." He said grudgingly. "Happy?"

"Ecstatic." Emma beamed at him. "And wait until you see the adorable little dresses I've ordered for Lexi and Izzy!"

Brennan looked around the room. "Speaking of Izzy, where is she?"

* * *

**_The kitchen, same time._**

Lexi had always firmly believed that the kitchen was the best place to come if you wanted to play a 'harmless' joke on an unsuspecting grown up and, surveying the empty kitchen with it's cupboard after cupboard filled with a treasure trove of ingredients and equipment to delight the heart of the most mischievous child, Izzy could understand her sister's affection for the room.

The adults had yet to find a set of childproof locks capable of coming between the Fox-Mulwray twins and anything that took their fancy.

Lexi had spoken at length about an idea of hers for what she had promised would be a 'super funny joke'.

Izzy was convinced that it was positively criminal for her grandfather to insist that Lexi be kept in bed and prevented from carrying out her master plan and utterly evil of her parents, aunt and uncle to back him up.

_/I'll show them! / _The little girl thought rebelliously. _/I'll play Lexi's game by myself and then I can cheer her up by telling her about it and then we can think of **more **games. /_

Dragging a chair across the room, Izzy climbed up and opened the cupboard above the sink, rummaging for a few minutes before she lit upon the item she sought.

Clutching the precious box to her chest, Izzy climbed down.  

This was going to be so much fun!

* * *

**_The Lab, twenty minutes later._**

" . . . And so Cinderella and the handsome prince got married and went to live in his palace where they reigned as King and Queen . . ." Shalimar paused in her reading and sighed. _/Do **all **fairy tales have to have this corny ending? / _" . . . And they all lived happily ever after. The End."

She looked down at her one-woman audience, who was now fast asleep, her cheeks rosy with sleep flush, her small arms wrapped tightly around her mother's waist.

Lexi looked so peaceful that Shalimar simply couldn't bear to disturb her.

Shifting her child's weight slightly, Shalimar stretched out more comfortably on the narrow bed, resigned to serving as her eldest daughter's pillow.

Soon, lulled by Lexi's soft, even breathing, she drifted off to sleep herself.

* * *

**_Ten minutes later._**

When Adam next entered the lab that was currently serving as a quarantine room he found the woman he thought of as his daughter curled up on the bed with her daughter, both of them fast asleep.

He didn't have the heart to wake them.

Covering them both with a light quilt, Adam dimmed the lights and stole out of the room.

* * ***__**

**_The kitchen, five minutes later._**

Grumbling under his breath about always being the one stuck with the job, Brennan brewed a pot of tea, filling a small jug with milk, taking down four cups and saucers and the sugar bowl and assembling them all on a tray.

From her hiding place under the table, Izzy watched her father's movements, almost trembling with anticipation.

She waited a moment after he had left the room before following him, powerless to resist the temptation to see the results of her prank up close.

* * *

**_The rec room._**

"So how's Lexi?" Emma asked, accepting a cup of tea and the milk jug from Brennan.

"Still pretty under the weather." Adam, to whom this question was addressed, answered honestly. "And I think that we'll need to buy the pharmacy's entire stock of calamine lotion, judging by the amount she's already gone through, but I think that she'll be okay. In another week, she'll be tearing around Sanctuary again, driving us all insane."

"Good to know." Jesse quipped, adding milk and two spoons of sugar to his tea. "I can't catch it from you, can I?" He asked worriedly, looking up at his mentor and father figure as though he was carrying the plague. "I mean, you were with Lexi."

"No, Jesse, you could only catch it if you were with Lexi for a long period of time. For Heaven's sake!" He laughed at the look of apprehension on the younger man's face. "If you're that nervous I can dig out one of the hazmet suits!"

"Yes please." Jesse nodded eagerly.

"I _was_ joking, Jess."

"Right." Jesse blushed a little.

"Will Shal be joining us?" Brennan asked, looking up from adding his fourth spoon of sugar to his tea. "Sugar?"

"Yes please." Adam accepted the bowl and added sugar to his own drink. "And no, Shalimar will not be joining us." He smiled. "She and Lexi are both sound asleep."

"Well then," Emma lifted her teacup in a mock toast. "Let's drink up." She grimaced as she tasted her tea.

Brennan took a quick swallow and promptly spat it out.

"Too hot for you, bro." Jesse asked, half teasingly, half sympathetically. "Needs more milk." He took a drink of his own milky concoction and proceeded to set a new world record in the projectile tea category. "Uggh!" He shuddered. "Brennan's trying to poison us!"

Emma looked like she was going to be sick. "This isn't funny, Bren!"

"I didn't do anything!"

Adam smiled knowingly, picking up the sugar bowl and sniffing it's contents. "Dishwasher salt." He announced, relieved that he hadn't taken any of his tea. "I'd say that the milk's been tampered with too." He added. "I think we all know by whom."

"ALEXIS MARIE . . . Sorry." Brennan said sheepishly. "Force of habit. "ISABELLE EMILY FOX-MULWRAY, YOU GET IN HERE THIS MINUTE, YOUNG LADY!"

* * *

From her vantage point behind the couch, Izzy stuffed a small hand into her mouth to quench her giggles, not perturbed in the least by her father's angry shout.

Lexi was right. Food – or in this case, drink – pranks were definitely the most fun.

Her twin would be proud.

TBC.

Is there anything anyone would like to see Izzy do? Suggestions will, as always, be most welcome.


	4. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: **As always, 'Mutant X' and it's amazing cast of characters = Not mine. Alexis and Isabelle Fox-Mulwray = Mine.

**Author's Note: **I'd like to thank everyone who reviewed the first three parts of this story. To Crystal113 – Shaving cream certainly sounds like an intriguing possibility; I'll try to work it in to a future chapter. To Feline-Feral – Yes, Jesse torture is a lot of fun but I think I put him through enough in 'Babysitting' to last until the twins are at least five. I like the lipstick suggestion and I must admit that Brennan and Shalimar have gotten off very lightly so far . . .

Words in / / = Thoughts.

**Chapter 3.**

**_Five minutes later._******

Try as he might, Brennan couldn't keep his amusement from showing on his face when he was faced with his solemn little daughter.

Izzy stood quietly, smoothed her pale blue sundress and looked up at her father with a sweet smile.

She firmly believed that the 'game' Lexi had devised had been very funny and she was very proud of the ingenuity she herself had shown by adding vinegar to the milk.

She sighed to herself.

It was too bad that the grown ups didn't have a sense of humour.

_/Lexi would have thought it was funny! /_

Her daddy was doing his best to glare at her, but she could tell from the sparkle in his eyes, as well as those of her aunt, uncle and grandfather, that they thought it was funny too.

"That was a very nasty thing to do, Izzy." Poor Brennan did his best to sound stern. "You could have made someone very sick!"

"But I didn't." Izzy pointed out logically. "And the dishwasher stuff was non-toxic." She pronounced the last word carefully. "I checked before I used it." Between them, Brennan and Shalimar had taught the twins their alphabet and numbers and the basics of reading and writing. "I wouldn't have used it if it was poison." She added earnestly.

"How would you like it if someone made you drink something horrible?" Emma asked, accepting a mint from Jesse to rid herself of the appalling taste in her mouth.

"I wouldn't." Izzy said calmly, wondering why they were making such a fuss. Honestly, it's wasn't as if someone had _died_! "That's why I gave it to you, 'stead of drinking it myself."

"What did you put in the milk anyway, Izzy lizard?" Adam asked curiously. "What?" He looked up at the other three adults, who were all shooting him furious looks. "I've been thinking of experimenting with new ingredients for my hangover remedy."

Brennan, Emma and Jesse, all of whom had had experience of that foul concoction, gave a collective shudder.

"Vinegar and some lemon juice." Izzy answered. "What do you put in your drink?" If she and Lexi ever tried pulling this trick again, new ingredients would definitely make things more interesting.

"Don't answer that!" Brennan growled at his mentor, who merely grinned. Turning his attention back to his daughter, Brennan schooled his expression into a frown. "You know that what you did was very wrong, don't you, Isabelle?"

Izzy sighed. Her full name always indicated that her father meant business. "But it was _funny_!" She protested

Brennan couldn't argue with that. "Maybe, but it still wasn't a very nice thing to do, was it?"

"I guess not." Izzy conceded reluctantly. She looked up at the adults with beseeching dark eyes. "I'm sorry you didn't like my joke and I'll never do it again. I promise."

None of the adults could resist the angelic looking four year old.

"Alright." Brennan ruffled his daughter's hair. "Just try to stay out of trouble, okay?"

She nodded solemnly. "I will."

The four adults failed to notice her slipping her hand behind her back and crossing her fingers surreptitiously.

_/Grown ups are **way **too trusting! /_

* * *

**_Evening._**

After he and the others had eaten their meal, Brennan headed for the lab to give Lexi her dinner and to relieve Shalimar of her watch for a few hours.

Much to Izzy's satisfaction, her mother found her account of spiking the tea very funny, mostly because she hadn't fallen victim to it herself.

Shalimar might have been the member of Mutant X who exercised the most control over the twins, but she always appreciated the ingenuity her daughters displayed in their most original pranks.

_/She just misses having Lexi around. / _Shalimar reflected. _/I don't think that the girls have been apart for more than a couple of hours since the day they were born! Maybe a little time apart will do them good, teach them to cope by themselves. /_

"Mommy, can't I go see Lexi, just for a little while?" Izzy wheedled.

Shalimar shook her head regretfully "No, sweetie, you can't. We don't want you to be sick too. Grandpa says that you'll be able to see her again by the end of the week."

"But that's ages away!" Izzy protested. "I want to see Lexi _now_!"

"Sorry, baby." Shalimar kissed the top of her unhappy daughter's head. "Nobody is allowed to see Lexi unless they've already had chicken pox and you haven't."

"No fair!" Izzy pouted.

"I know." Shalimar hugged the little girl. "I've got to go check on Lexi. You be a good girl for Daddy." 

Izzy mumbled something that her mother chose to take as assent and Shalimar, satisfied, headed back to the lab.

Izzy Fox-Mulwray was not a happy little girl.

She sighed.

As always, she was going to have to solve her problems herself.

* * *

**_An hour and a half later._**

"Daddy, Daddy, Daddy!" Izzy raced into the rec room where her father was reading his book.

"What's the matter, Izzy lizard?" Brennan looked up from Walt Whitman to see his daughter standing in front of him, a triumphant expression on her face.

"I have to go to the lab with Lexi." The four year old announced jubilantly. "I've got chicken pox too."

"What?!" Brennan was devastated. _/Great! Now both of them will be sick and cranky! /_

"Uh huh." Izzy lifted her pyjama top to reveal an impressive collection of red spots liberally dotting her torso. "See?"

It took a second for Brennan to register what was going on.

Suppressing his laughter, her reached out to touch the spots on Izzy's stomach, his suspicions confirmed by the tell tale red stains that came off on his hand.

"That's lipstick, Izzy."

The little girl's face fell.

She hadn't expected her father to see through her shrewd ruse.

_/Looks like I'll have to try something else. /_

TBC.

Author's Note: I'll have the next chapter up as soon as I can. I don't know how people are able to write more than one story at once – Lexi and Izzy came very close to making a guest appearance in my 'Angel' story!


	5. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: As always, 'Mutant X' and it's amazing cast of characters = Not mine. Alexis and Isabelle Fox-Mulwray = Mine. Author's Note: I'm sorry it's taken me so long to get this chapter posted. I've been away from my computer for over a week. I wish I could say that I'll have the next chapter posted quickly but school stuff keeps getting in the way. On the bright side, there's less than three months left in the term so I'll be able to devote more time to writing. I might actually get the sequel to 'Different' written!  
  
Words in / / = Thoughts.  
  
Words in * * = Italics.  
  
*  
  
Chapter 5.  
  
Half past nine that night..  
  
Izzy couldn't sleep.  
  
She was disgusted that her lipstick ruse had failed to convince her father to let her see her sister.  
  
She had been looking forward to impressing Lexi with an account of a prank well done and was not pleased at being thwarted.  
  
/I guess that I'll have to try harder. / Izzy reflected mournfully. /The tea game wasn't good enough to make the grown-ups let me see Lexi so I'll have to do something else. /  
  
A sly smile spread across the little girl's face as she remembered a new asset, one that the grown-ups hadn't had the pleasure of experiencing yet.  
  
/This is going to be fun! Lexi is going to *hate* missing it! /  
  
Midway through her plotting, Izzy fell asleep and didn't stir until morning.  
  
* * *  
  
Next morning.  
  
"Rise and shine!"  
  
Shalimar groaned and covered her ears, trying to block out her husband's greeting.  
  
In her opinion, it was positively indecent for him to be *this* cheerful so early in the morning.  
  
"Rough night?" Brennan patted her shoulder sympathetically. "Did Lexi let you get any sleep?"  
  
"A few wake up calls." Shalimar responded, sitting up and sliding her arm very gently out from under her still sleeping daughter. "We're out of calamine lotion." She informed him.  
  
"Again?" Brennan raised an astonished eyebrow. "Is she bathing in the stuff?"  
  
"Just about." Shalimar stroked Lexi's hair. "She's having a rough time of it. How's Izzy getting on without her other half?"  
  
"She tried pretending that she had chicken pox last night so that I'd let her come here."  
  
"Magic marker?"  
  
"Lipstick." Brennan replied.  
  
"In a way, I think that this separation might be the best thing for them." Shalimar said seriously. "This is the first time in their lives that they've been apart for any length of time. They don't have any friends outside of the group and they're the only kids here so they rely on each other for company. I don't want them to grow up completely dependent on each other."  
  
"You were the only kid here when you were little." Brennan pointed out. "And I don't think that anyone in their right mind could think of *you* as dependent."  
  
"I was older." Shalimar pointed out. "And Michael was even more of a kid than I was. I had Jesse for company later on and we both made a few friends in school. Apart from a few visits to the park - which never seem to end well - the girls never leave Sanctuary." She sghed. "I'll be glad when they start school next year and meet other kids."  
  
"I feel sorry for whatever poor soul ends up as their teacher!" Brennan exclaimed feelingly. "Lexi and Izzy will drive them to the nearest looney bin within a week! I'm just about ready for a trip there myself!"  
  
"I heard about the tea prank." Shalimar laughed. "You have to admit that it was very funny."  
  
"Not for me!" Brennan grumbled. "It was nearly as bad as Adam's hangover remedy!"  
  
"Did I hear my name?" Adam popped into the lab. "How's our patient?"  
  
"Sleeping."  
  
Adam bent over and placed the electronic thermometor in Lexi's ear, moving as gently as he could. "One hundred and two." He announced.  
  
"Damn!" Brennan looked up to see Shalimar and Adam gazing at him quizzically. "Jesse's started a pool." He explained lamely. "I had a hundred point five."  
  
"You're betting on our daughter?" Shalimar tried to look serious and failed. She laughed. "I think that you and Jess need Gamblers' Anonymous - badly. So what were the stakes?"  
  
"Loser has to clean up after Izzy's next prank."  
  
A piercing shriek of pure terror tore through Sanctuary, waking Lexi.  
  
Shalimar smiled at her husband. "Duty calls."  
  
* * *  
  
Jesse's room.  
  
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!" Jesse flung back the covers, terrified.  
  
"Jesse?" Emma ran into the room, convinced that her fiance was being murdered. "What's the matter?"  
  
"In. . .In my bed!" Jesse pointed a shaking finger towards his innocent looking mattress. "I rolled over and I . . .I could feel it there!" He shuddered. "All icky and slimy!"  
  
"What's wrong?" Brennan, slightly out of breath, followed Emma into the room. "Who died?"  
  
"There's something in my bed." Jesse struggled to get his panic under control. "I could feel it moving!"  
  
Brennan moved forward warily, reached for the quilt with tentative fingers and flung it back to reveal the source of Jesse's fright. Smiling, he held the object of terror up for the other man to see. "*This* is what illicited that scream?" He teased.  
  
Jesse stared at the large rubber spider dangling from his friend's hand for a moment before he could speak.  
  
"I'm gonna kill that kid!"  
  
* * *  
  
Hallway.  
  
Outside the room, Izzy pressed her fist in her mouth to keep from laughing.  
  
'Convincing' Other Grandpa to buy the joke kits for them had definitely been worthwhile.  
  
Her uncle let out an enraged growl which told her that she should be moving on.  
  
/I'd better lay low until they cool off. /  
  
* * *  
  
Adam's Lab.  
  
Adam picked up the phone on the second ring.  
  
"Hello?"  
  
"Adam?"  
  
"Hi Nick." Adam felt that he and Nicholas Fox deserved congratulations for the effort they had put into improving their relationship. They could now exchange a telephone conversation without either insulting each other or getting into a shouting match. They were far from being best buddies but hey, progress was progress.  
  
"What's all the shouting about?" Even over the phone, Nicholas could hear Jesse's shouting.  
  
"Aftermath of a little prank on one of the girls' part, I'm afraid."  
  
"What did Lexi do this time?"  
  
"Izzy." Adam corrected. "Lexi's sick, so Izzy's taken over the mischief department."  
  
"Lexi's sick?" Nicholas sounded worried. "Nothing serious I hope."  
  
"Chicken pox." Adam informed him. "Lexi's pretty miserable."  
  
"Poor kid." Nicholas was sympathetic. "I was always glad that Margaret and I never had to deal with that particular ailment."  
  
Adam's heart sank. "What do you mean? Shalimar told me that she had had it."  
  
"No, she's never had chicken pox." Nicholas was completely unaware of the impact his words were having on the other man. "We thought she did at one stage, turned out it was just a fruit rash. Shalimar couldn't have been more than . . ."  
  
"Three." Adam finished for him. "Nick, I've got to go."  
  
"Alright." Nicholas sounded a little puzzled. "I'll be dropping round this weekend. I'll see you then."  
  
"Bye." Adam hung up the phone, feeling as if he could scream.  
  
/Times like this, I just want to cry! /  
  
TBC. 


	6. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: **If Mutant X belonged to me, Emma would still be alive and Eckhart would get pelted with rotten tomatoes at some stage in the not too distant future. Lexi and Izzy Fox-Mulwray belong to me.

**Author's Note: **Apologies for the update delay. It took me a long time to be happy with this chapter.

Words in / / = Thoughts.

**Chapter 5.**

"I do not have chicken pox! Chicken pox is a little kid's disease! I feel fine . . . Umph!" Shalimar spluttered as Adam put the thermometer in her mouth, a stern expression on his face.

"Hold still." He admonished, counting out the time on his watch before withdrawing the thermometer from the indignant feral's mouth. "One hundred on the dot." He sighed wearily. "I'm afraid you're in for the same as Lexi."

"I thought I had had it already." Shalimar's voice was small.

"It's not your fault, baby." Brennan squeezed her shoulder sympathetically.

"It was an easy mistake to make." Adam concurred. "And there's no sense in crying over spilt milk." He smiled at her. "Looks like Lexi is going to have some company in the lab. Could you see about getting another bed set up in there?" Brennan, to whom this question was addressed, nodded his assent. "And double check with Emma – make sure that she didn't have a rash or measles or smallpox instead!" He called as the younger man turned to leave the room.

"Will do." Brennan gave his wife a sympathetic smile before leaving.

"And tell Jesse that if he comes near me with that goddamn camcorder of his I'll sneeze on him or something until he has to join Lexi and myself in quarantine, wedding or no wedding!"

"I'll tell him." Brennan grinned. The other man was so terrified of catching chicken pox before his wedding that even the temptation of additional blackmail material could not have induced him to go near either Shalimar or Lexi.

* * *

"It's not fair!" Izzy glared around her empty bedroom, stamping her foot for emphasis. "It's not fair!" She repeated for the benefit of her non-existent audience.

_/Mommy got to catch chicken pox and stay with Lexi and she didn't even **want **them but the grown ups won't let **me** catch them! Now I can't even see Mommy!  /_

"It's not fair!" She reiterated.

"Talking to yourself, Izzy lizard?" Her father grinned down at her. "First sign of insanity, you know."

"Don't care!" Izzy plumped out her lower lip. "I wanna be with Lexi and Mommy!"

Brennan sighed. "I know, sweetie, but we don't want you to be sick too. Chicken pox is a very nasty thing to have, you know." He added knowledgeably, trying to make the disease sound as unappealing as possible. "You get horrible itchy spots all over and your headaches and you feel nasty for ages."

"If Lexi has it, I want it."

"And if Lexi jumped off a cliff, would you."

"Yes!" Izzy set her chin firmly. "We're twins!"

"That doesn't mean you have to do everything together." Brennan said patiently. "There are two of you, not one. You're different people. You like to do things on your own sometimes, don't you?"

Izzy smiled faintly at the memory of the very satisfactory response her last prank had elicited from her Uncle Jesse. "I guess." She conceded.

Brennan grinned, guessing her track of thoughts. "You know that that wasn't a nice thing to do, don't you?" He schooled his features into a suitably stern expression. You know that poor Uncle Jesse is terrified of spiders."

Izzy rolled her eyes in exasperation. "That's why I did it!"

Brennan sighed. "If you can't play nicely with your toys then I'm afraid that I'm going to have to take them from you." He held out his hand. "Give Daddy the spider."

Izzy sighed theatrically, rummaging in her drawer for the rubber spider she had recovered as soon as the grown ups had left Uncle Jesse's room.

"Here." She placed it in her father's hand, making sure to make a show of reluctance.

"Good girl." Brennan patted his daughter's head. "I'll give it back to you at the end of the week, okay."

"Yes, Daddy." She adopted a subdued tone.

He bent down and kissed the top of her head. "Be good."

The four year old waited until her father's footsteps had died away before slipping her hand under her bed and withdrawing the joke box hidden beneath it.

It was time for some real fun.

_/Even if Daddy takes away my joke box, I'll still have **Lexi's **to play with! /_

* * *

_Three hours later._

" . . . And if you don't stop scratching I'm going to have to tape oven mitts to your hands!"

Emma raised an eyebrow as Adam exited the lab after making his threat. "What's the matter? Is Lexi insisting on scratching?"

Adam scowled grimly. "Not Lexi. Shalimar."

* * *

_The same time, Shalimar and Brennan's room._

Izzy hummed to herself as she went to work with her joke box and a few choice tools purloined from the kitchen and her parent's bathroom cabinet.

The joke box came with a pamphlet of instructions, which, although Izzy could only read some of the smaller words, was illustrated with detailed diagrams.

/This is going to be so much fun! / She thought gleefully as she selected an appropriate punishment for her father, aunt and uncle. _/Mommy's sick, so I'll leave her alone . . . This time. / _Izzy decided charitably. _/And Grandpa's working hard to make Lexi and Mommy better so I won't trick him. But I'll play games with the other grown-ups. / _

Smiling devilishly, Izzy resumed her work.

* * *

_An hour later._

Emma smiled down at her sleeping fiancé. It had been a very quiet day, without a single New Mutant in need of rescue or GSA agent causing trouble and Jesse was enjoying a well-earned rest, looking as peaceful as the twins did when they were asleep.

She yawned, feeling a little tired herself.

_/I'll just take a quick shower, then I'll lie down for a while myself. / _She decided.

Izzy waited until her aunt had gone into the bathroom and then, the noise of the shower drowning out that of her movements, she slipped into the room, standing next to her uncle.

She gave the can a vigorous shake before starting to use it.

* * *

_The same time._

After a long workout on the dojo, Brennan's clothes were damp with perspiration.

Not wanting to offend the delicate feral senses of his wife and older daughter, he headed for his room to change before going to visit them.

* * *__

_Forty five minutes later._

Feeling greatly refreshed after her 'quick' shower, Emma climbed out of the tub, drying herself briskly.

She wiped the steam off the mirror with one hand so that she could see her reflection.

A thousand banshees could not have outdone the scream she let out.

Emma's shriek of pure terror roused poor Jesse from a dream that he was being engulfed by a bizarre cloud . . .Only to find that he was being engulfed by a bizarre cloud.

The molecular spluttered as he tried to scrub the shaving foam from his face, almost choking on the mouthful of toothpaste he had come perilously close to swallowing.

_/I'm going to kill Izzy! /_

* * *

_The same time, Adam's lab._

"Lexi and Shalimar are asleep." Brennan reported, dropping into the lab for a quick update. "And we're out of calamine lotion again." He scratched absently at his chest. "Maybe we should see if we can just get it piped here."

Adam watched in horror as Brennan continued to scratch his torso, scarcely aware of what he was doing.

He swore under his breath, casting his eyes heavenward. "Oh, come on!" He shouted at whoever might be listening. "This just isn't fair!"

The younger man did a surprisingly good goldfish impression as his mentor grabbed him by the arm and steered him over to the examination chair, forcing a thermometer between his lips.

It took him a second to realize why.

It's not chicken pox, Adam." He protested, extricating himself from Adam's grip, I'm just . . ." He scratched under his chest before withdrawing his hand and  carefully examining his fingers. " . . . ITCHING POWDER!!!" He scowled down at the light brown powder on his fingers. "Tell Lexi she's about to become an only child!"

TBC.

_Sorry again for the update delay_


	7. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: **You know the drill. 'Mutant X' and it's amazing cast of characters belong to someone who isn't me. Lexi and Izzy Fox-Mulwray belong to me.

**Author's Note: **Sorry about the update delay. Inspiration struck today so all three stories got an update. Please keep reviewing, let me know what you think. Is Izzy going too far?

Words in / / = Thoughts.

**Chapter 6.**

"I am very, very cross with you, young lady." Brennan scolded his less than contrite daughter. "I know that you miss Lexi and Mommy but that's no reason to take it out on everybody else, is that clear? You could have made Uncle Jesse choke with that toothpaste and shaving cream and as for what you did to Aunt Emma. . ." he looked over at the unhappy psionic, whose skin was a bright shade of orange. "What exactly did you do to Aunt Emma?"

"I put food dye in her shower stuff." Izzy told her father calmly, not understanding why he was making such a fuss. _She _thought that it was very funny.

"This better wash out before the wedding!" Emma told the little girl warningly.

Jesse laid a gentle hand on his fiancée's shoulder. "I'm sure that it will, Em." He reassured her. "If not, we can always change the date." He jested.

Emma gave him a look of pure horror and sprinted off to her bathroom to make a fresh attempt at restoring her skin's normal appearance. 

Jesse watched her go, torn between irritation, amusement and even slight pity for Izzy who was now facing judgment.

"You have to admit," he told his friend in a low voice. "That it was _very_ funny."

Izzy gave her uncle a small smile. Next to Mommy, Uncle Jesse was the best of the grown ups as far as appreciating her mischief related efforts went.

Brennan glared at the other man. "Don't encourage her, Jess." He said in a low voice. 'She's in big, big trouble."

Izzy sighed wearily, wishing that her father would hurry up and tell her off so that she could get back to work. She already had some ideas for a new spate of pranks.

Jesse nodded in understanding, clapping a hand of Brennan's shoulder. "See you later, man." He said before heading off.

Izzy watched mournfully as her last ally deserted her.

"Now," Brennan took his daughter's hand in a firm but gentle grip and led her into his and Shalimar's room. "You and I need to have a little talk."

He sat down on the bed and motioned for Izzy to stand next to him.

"First things' first." He looked her in the eyes. "Where did you get the itching powder?"

"What itching powder?" Izzy batted her eyelashes sweetly, hoping to avoid the topic.

"Don't even think about trying this one on me, Izzy." Brennan warned. "The itching powder you put on my clothes. I want to know where you got it."

Izzy clamped her lips shut, remaining resolutely silent. Her father's scolding did not trouble her greatly and she was not prepared to reveal the origins of the joke boxes, knowing that to do so would get both herself and her twin into trouble. 

The four year old had no desire to listen to a lecture on the evils of using her powers for such trivial purposes. 

"I'm waiting for an answer, Isabelle.' Brennan said warningly. "Where did you get the itching powder. "I know that I didn't buy it for you and neither did your mother. Grandpa, Aunt Emma and even Uncle Jesse all know better and it didn't appear out of thin air so how did you get it?"

Izzy set her chin determinedly. "Not telling." She declared stubbornly. "I don't care what you say. I don't even care if you spank me.' She added with uncharacteristic bravado, remembering Other Grandpa's earlier threats.

"Don't tempt me." Brennan said darkly. "Now, I'm going to give you one more chance. Where did you get that itching powder?"

"Not telling." Feeling especially daring, Izzy stuck out her tongue pertly. "So there!" She sighed impatiently, bored with the whole process. "Can I go now?"

"No." Brennan's voice was firm. "I think that you need a little time to think about what you've done and to decide whether or not you're going to answer my questions." He scooped his daughter up and carried her out of the room and up the shallow steps to the dojo. "There." He set her down unceremoniously. "I want you to think about what you've done. I'll be back in a little while."

 He stepped off the dojo, activating the forcefield around it and setting the timer for fifteen minutes.

Izzy glared out at him from behind the transparent yet impenetrable wall, stamping her foot. "I hate you!" She declared childishly. "I want Mommy!"

Much to her disgust her father did not answer her. He headed down the steps and into the rec room, not looking back.

Izzy sat down on the small platform in a huff.

_/It's not fair! / _She thought rebelliously. /_It's not **my **fault that Daddy doesn't have a sense of humor. /_

* * *

**_Ten minutes later._**

"Hey." Jesse greeted his friend cheerfully as he stepped into the rec room, where Brennan was making an unsuccessful attempt to concentrate on his cherished volume of Walt Whitman's works. "Izzy's not a happy camper." He informed the elemental. "I don't think that time outs agree with her."

"She's not supposed to like it." Brennan objected. "It's a punishment."

"For her or for us?"

Brennan gave his friend a quizzical look.

Jesse laughed. "Come on, you know that Izzy's using this quiet time to plot her revenge.' He clapped the other man on the shoulder. "She's going to get you for this!"

Brennan's face fell as the impact of his friend's words struck him.

_/Sh*t! /_

_* * *_

**_Five minutes later._**

"Alright, Izzy, you're free to go." Brennan disabled the forcefield around the dojo. "Behave yourself."

The little girl gave him a sweet smile. "Yes, Daddy." She skipped off back to her room, humming to herself.

Brennan watched her go with a sinking feeling of trepidation.

_/I'm a dead man! /_

TBC.


	8. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: **You know the drill. 'Mutant X' and it's amazing cast of characters belong to someone who isn't me. Lexi and Izzy Fox-Mulwray belong to me.

**Author's Note: **Deepest apologies for the update delay. 

**Author's Note II: **To tigereyes320 - Don't worry, Lexi and Izzy will learn the error of their ways before long, plus once they start school, they'll have to learn to behave themselves. I don't know about Shalimar and Brennan having another baby. Emma and Jesse will be having one in the next story and I don't want Sanctuary to be completely overrun by children, although I suppose four wouldn't be that many when you consider that there are five adults there but I'd be afraid that the girls would be left out.

Words in / / = Thoughts.

**Chapter 7.**

_Two days later._

"So, how're you feeling?"

Shalimar glared at her husband. "I have chicken pox. How do you think I feel?"

"At least you won the temperature race." Brennan offered brightly. "You were four degrees ahead of Lexi."

"Great." Shalimar muttered sarcastically. She sighed and gave him a small smile. "I think that Lexi's feeling better." She nodded towards her sleeping daughter. "She spent most of this morning jumping on the bed. What's Izzy up to?"

"Plotting my doom." He sighed. Izzy had been giving him the silent treatment for the past two days.

Shalimar laughed. "Come on, Brennan, you have to admit that turning Emma orange _was _impressive. I never came up with anything like that when I was four."

"That's not what your dad says." He teased. Shalimar whacked him over the head with her pillow. "Hey!"

"Is Emma back to normal yet?"

Brennan nodded. "Yeah, the dye wore off pretty quickly. We were lucky. If it hadn't, we'd be planning Izzy's funeral. Nothing is alllowed interfere with her wedding plans." He grinned at his wife. "And on that note, Emma told me to tell you that she expects both you and Lexi to be recovered and out of quarantine by the wedding day."

"Doesn't she know that I'd be out of here in a second if I could?" Shalimar demanded indignantly. "Does she think that I actually _enjoy _this?"

Brennan laughed. "Don't shoot the messenger." 

"Do you mind?" A tired, decidedly grumpy Lexi glared up at her parents. "I'm trying to sleep."

Brennan kissed his daughter's cheek. "Sorry, sweetie." He bent down over Shalimar's bed and kissed her gently on the lips. "I'll see you guys later. Izzy's been alone far too long, I don't want to know what she's after doing."

* * *

For the first time in her short life, Izzy was suffering from pranksters block.

She had spent the last two days trying to come up with an appropriate plan to avenge herself for what she felt was a grievously unjust timeout.

So far, all of her plans had been too tame or else too extreme, even by her standards.

_/I need Lexi. / _The four year old thought unhappily. _/Lexi will know what to do. /_

* * *

_Five minutes later._

"Grandpa?" Izzy assumed her most pathetic facial expression. "Can I talk to you?"

Adam smiled, pushing away his work and lifting the little girl into his lap. "What's the matter, sweetheart?"

Izzy looked up at him with beseeching brown eyes. "Can I see Lexi for a little while, if I'm really careful not to catch chicken pox?" She pleaded. "It's very important. I have to talk to her."

"What about?"

"Just stuff." Izzy answered vaguely. "Important stuff." She added earnestly.

"Like what kind of prank to play on your father?" Izzy wouldn't meet his eyes. Adam chuckled softly. "I might have known." His expression became very serious. "Why do you want to play a prank on your father?" He already knew the answer,but he wanted to hear her say it.

"He gave me a time out!" Izzy exclaimed indignantly.

"Why?"

Izzy lowered her eyes. "Because I made him itchy and I put toothpaste and shaving cream on Uncle Jesse and I turned Aunt Emma orange."

"And why did you do that?"

Izzy shrugged. "I was bored."

"I see." Adam's expression was grave. He put a gentle finger under Izzy's chin and tilted her face so that she was looking at him. "Did I ever tell you about how the first New Mutant was made?"

The four year old shook her head and, sensing a story coming, snuggled into Adam's lap expectantly.

"There was once a little boy called Gabriel Ashlocke." Adam began. "He was very sick so his mommy and daddy brought him to me to see if I could help him."

"Did you?"

Adam sighed. "Yes and no. You see, I tried fixing Gabriel's DNA to make him better but I ended up giving him special powers as well."

"He was a New Mutant?"

Adam nodded confirmation. "Gabriel had lots of powers." He continued, tailoring his language so that the four year old could understand him. "But he didn't know how to use them properly. He used them to hurt people. Even his mommy and daddy."

"What did he do to them?" Izzy squirmed uncomfortably, not liking where this story was going. 

"He killed them." Izzy gasped in  horror, unable to understand how anyone could kill their parents. "When he was ten." Adam continued inexorably. "Gabriel was the most powerful new Mutant I've ever met but you and Lexi are close seconds and, unlike Gabriel, you've had your powers since you were born." Adam hugged her gently. "I know that you don't mean to be nasty when you play your jokes - at least," He amended. "You don't usually - but you still have to very careful about letting yourself get angry at people, like you are at your daddy right now, and try to get revenge, even if you don't use your powers. That's a bad path, Izzy, and once you're on it, it's very hard to get off. Do you understand what I'm trying to say to you?"

Izzy nodded slowly. "I think so, Grandpa."

Adam smiled, kissing the top of her head. "Good girl." He lifted her off his lap. "Lexi should be able to leave the lab in another couple of days." he told her cheerfully. "Until then, at least _try_ to stay out of trouble, okay? And think about what I've said."

"I will." Izzy promised solemnly.

* * * 

_An hour later._

Brennan had been sitting in the rec room reading when Izzy came in.

His initial fear that she had finally come up with an appropriate revenge dissipated as his little girl put her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly.

"I love you, Daddy." She whispered, kissing his cheek before releasing him and heading back to her own room.

Brennan watched her leave, a relieved smile on his face.

_/Wow! I guess that miracles are possible. /_

TBC.

_Sorry if the last scene was a little too sappy. I wanted Izzy to learn the error of her ways and to reform, at least a little._

_Next Chapter: Emma and Jesse tie the knot._


	9. Epilogue

**Disclaimer: **You know the drill: 'Mutant X' and it's amazing cast of characters = Not Mine. Lexi and Izzy Fox-Mulwray = Mine.

**Author's Note: **With any luck, I'll have my next story posted soon. Jesse and Emma will be having their first child during that story. I've already decided on the baby's sex and mutations but I'm having a problem picking a name. Any suggestions?

**Author's Note II: **I'd like to thank everyone who reviewed this story and put up with my sporadic updates. To Sunstar2, Feline-Feral, canadian-chic14, goldstranger, brigitta1, Jessesgirl11, Hexe, loveconquers, Alexandria1, Crystal113, Mari, tigereyes320 and Quadrantje – thanks for all your encouragements and suggestions.

**Author's Note III: **This chapter is dedicated to Telempath, who has been asking for a Jesse/Emma pairing since 'Surprise'.

*

Epilogue 

**_Eleven days later._**

"Oh, don't those two look positively darling!"

"What a pair of little angels!"

Lexi, now thankfully spot free and out of quarantine, shook her head pityingly at the two elderly ladies who, passing by the small church where the wedding would be held, had stopped to watch herself and Izzy so adoringly.

Five passers by had already commented on the twins' angelic appearances.

In their ankle length white dresses with deep purple sashes, their long blonde hair twisted into ringlets and crowned with wreaths of rosebuds specially dyed to match Emma's carefully planned colour scheme, the Fox-Mulwray sisters looked as though they would never in their lives have given so much as a thought to causing trouble.

Appearances could be very deceiving.

Emma and Adam, who was doubling as the father of the bride, were posing for pictures outside the church and the twins were preparing themselves for their appearances.

"Alright, you two," Emma left Adam and the photographer and bent down in front of the two little girls. "Do you remember what you're supposed to do?"

"Uh-huh." Izzy nodded solemnly. "We walk down the aisle in front of Mommy and you and Grandpa and we throw our flowers." The little girl shook her basket of rose petals.

"But we don't throw them _at _people." Lexi added sagely. "Because they probably wouldn't like that."

"And what's the most important thing to remember?"

"Not to do anything to screw up the wedding 'cause then you'd have to hurt us." The twins chorused sweetly, knowing perfectly well that their aunt would never have carried out her threat.

"Emma?" Shalimar, Shalimar, fully recovered and dressed in a long gown the same shade as the twins' sashes, tapped her friend's shoulder. "It's time."

Emma stood up straight, smoothing out a non-existent wrinkle in her elegant white gown and straightening her delicate lace veil. "I'm ready."

Taking a deep breath, the bride took her place in the procession waiting to enter the church.

* * *

"Are you nervous?" Brennan, handsomely dressed in an stylish tuxedo and the lilac cravat Emma had persuaded him to wear, leaned forward to whisper in Jesse's ear.

Jesse, looking every inch the happy groom, gave his friend a small smile. "You know, that's really something that you should have asked _before _we got to the altar and, in answer to your question: not even a little." 

The organist began playing a soft professional march and the church doors opened to reveal Lexi and Izzy, who led the procession into the church, strewing the path with rose petals to a chorus of 'Oohs' and 'Aahs' from the dozen or so New Mutants attending and Nicholas Fox, who were seated on either side of the church.

Much to Brennan's relief, his daughters discharged their duties as flower girls admirably, reaching the altar without incident.

Izzy joined Jesse and her father on the right side of the altar, while Lexi headed left, where she was presently joined by her mother.

The organist struck up a wedding march and all eyes turned to the entrance of the church, where Adam and Emma stood.

Emma looked positively radiant as she approached the altar on Adam's arm.

The older man beamed with pride, kissing Emma's cheek gently when they reached the altar.

Jesse smiled down at his wife to be. "You ready?"

Her eyes shone with joy. "Always."

* * *

At the minister's prompting, Jesse and Emma turned to face each other and Lexi and Izzy stepped forward, rings at the ready.

Although the twins hadn't been told, for fear of hurting their feelings, Shalimar and Brennan each carried a spare ring, just in case.

The minister smiled kindly at the young couple before him, nodding at Jesse. "Repeat after me. With this ring, I thee wed.

"With this ring, I thee wed."

"With my body I thee worship." 

"With my body I thee worship."

"And with all my worldly goods I thee endow."

"And with all my worldly goods I thee endow."

Jesse accepted the ring from Izzy and slipped it onto Emma's finger.

"The minister turned his kindly gaze on Emma. "Now you, Emma. With this ring, I thee wed."

"With this ring, I thee wed."

"With my body I thee worship." 

"With my body I thee worship."

"And with all my worldly goods I thee endow."

"And with all my worldly goods I thee endow."****

Lexi, her features carefully schooled into an appropriately solemn expression, handed the ring to her aunt.

Emma slid the ring onto Jesse's finger, leaning forward to kiss him.

"Not so fast." The minister chuckled.

The young couple regarded him impatiently.

"I now pronounce you husband and wife." He smiled down at Jesse and Emma. "You may _now _kiss the bride."

They needed no further prompting.

* * *

"That was a lovely ceremony." Adam complimented, smiling at Emma who had been the chief organizer. 

"Thanks." Emma was in seventh heaven, all her careful preparations having resulted in the wedding of her dreams.

"Where are you two kids going on your honeymoon?" Nicholas asked curiously. He ruffled his daughter's hair teasingly. "I couldn't persuade Shalimar to go anywhere."

"I was pregnant!" Shalimar protested.

Lexi looked up curiously. "What's 'pregnant', Mommy?"

"I'll tell you later." Shalimar said quietly, not wanting to get into that particular conversation in the middle of Jesse and Emma's wedding reception.

"Okay." Much to the adults' relief, Lexi did not argue against the delay.

Izzy, happily polishing off her third slice of wedding cake, was barely paying any attention to the conversation around her.

"So, sweetie," Adam lifted Lexi into his lap. "Will you give your old grandfather the honour of the first dance?"

"I don't have an old grandfather." Lexi told him seriously. "Can I dance with you instead?"

Adam laughed, kissing the top of the little girl's head. "Flatterer. Of course I'll dance with you."

"Good." Lexi looked satisfied.

"And I'll dance with Other Grandpa." Izzy announced, climbing into Nicholas's lap.

"Can we dance now?" Lexi demanded.

"Not yet, sweetie." Shalimar told her daughter gently. "Aunt Emma and Uncle Jesse have to have the first dance."

"So what are they waiting for?" Lexi asked. "Dance!"

The band leader must have heard the little girl, for soft strains of romantic music started playing and the call came for the bride and groom to take floor for their first dance as husband and wife.

Jesse and Emma looked like something out of a fairytale as they took the floor together, their heads tilted at precisely the right angle, their eyes shining with love.

Blissfully unaware of the guests around them, they slowly circled the dance floor, looking happier than any of their friends had ever seen them.

For the moment, at least, life was perfect.

THE END.


End file.
